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Keeping your cars long term

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  • Keeping your cars long term

    Our current "fleet" is starting to age a bit, and I'm wondering how long everyone out there is keeping their cars.
    Common sense tells me to keep them until they start to become problematic or unreliable.
    We aren't there yet, as all are running just fine.
    We have the cash to replace them, so no concerns regarding budget.

    Here is our current breakdown:

    2016 Ford F350 Diesel, 155K miles
    2017 Toyota Rav4 Hybrid, 157K miles
    2006 Scion Xa, 186K miles


    Brian

  • #2
    I don't have a history of keeping vehicles long term. That said, if you have the cash to replace them, then it's all about choice and that's the best spot to be in. Replace one when you want to, or if/when it gets to become a problem you'd rather not deal with.
    History will judge the complicit.

    Comment


    • #3
      We typically buy a couple of years old and keep for 10-12 years.

      Current cars:
      Me: 2018 Toyota Camry purchased in September 2020, 67,000 miles
      Wife: 2019 Subaru Forester purchased in November 2022, 18,000 miles I think

      So we're set for a while unless something unforeseen occurs. We've gotten well over 100K on every car we've had so I've got another 4 years on mine at least and who knows how long on my wife's as she doesn't use it that much. I tend to drive when we go anywhere. Sometimes we take her car just to get it out and let it run for a while.
      Steve

      * Despite the high cost of living, it remains very popular.
      * Why should I pay for my daughter's education when she already knows everything?
      * There are no shortcuts to anywhere worth going.

      Comment


      • #4
        We keep our cars long term. Rather spend our money on other things. We currently have two 2017s (both with 90K miles) that I consider to be babies. I wouldn't consider replacing them until my kids are done with college (a few more years). But we would happily keep these cars another 10 years, they both feel 'like new'.

        The max we ever kept a car is 200K miles/20 years. The exception is my kids are driving an older car right now. I prefer they upgrade to something newer/safer, but they love the car and it has many years left in it.

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        • #5
          My mindset is to sell everything (ie, cars, laptops, ebikes, sporting goods, etc) while it is still good rather than waiting until the wheels falls off. Also, I buy new rather than used and buying someone else's problems. In 2007 I bought new a 2007 Dodge Dakota for $13,999. In 2018, I bought new a 2018 Dodge Journey for $16,999. The same night I listed my 2007 Dakota in Craigslist and a guy came and bought the 2007 Dakota for $1500 cash. In 2024, I bought new a 2024 Chevy Trailblazer for $22,000 and trade in the 2018 Journey for $1500. In 2022 that 2018 Journey put of an OBD code where both the Dodge dealer and Pepboys diagnosed it wrong saying I needed a new catalytic convers, $5000 at the dealer or $4000 at Pepboys for an OEM catalytic converter. I chose to go with an approved after market one for new $1000 + $500 labor. In 2023 the code came back so I bought another new after market exact same model. The muffler shop told me that that model was no longer approved. I chose to install it anyway. After the install the mechanic said my exhaust manifold had a crack which was leaking exhaust which caused the OBD code. Thus it was not the catalytic converter, it was the cracked exhaust manifold which I ordered for $300 on Rock Auto and paid Pepboys $300 for the install. In California new cars are subject to smog tests at the 7 year mark where mine's would be due in June 2025 which is why I bought the new 2024 Chevy in Nov 2024 and trade in the 2018 Journey to let the dealer deal with my problem. When the wheels falls off they fall off fast, hence why I sell when I can while the item is still good.

          Edited a typo.
          Last edited by QuarterMillionMan; Yesterday, 11:05 AM.

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          • #6
            We've not had a habit of keeping our stuff too long, had 140k on my last pickup when traded and that was about as long as I've held on to one. Wasn't really anything wrong with it. My spouse just gets the itch and wants a new vehicle more frequently than me, probably trades around the 75-90k mileage point typically.

            If you're a bit handy and meticulous about maintenance there is no reason you can't run a vehicle 300k miles or more. Sure, you'll have a few things go wrong but the expenses are unlikely to be nearly as high as the cash outlay for a new car or making car payments.
            We typically ran our well maintained fleet of business pickups to about 250k miles each and they still looked good and were in pretty good shape. In 30+ years of running a fleet like that we only had a handful of major breakdowns such as an engine or transmission replacement. Modern vehicles are pretty reliable.

            A guy I fish with has over $300k on his Chevy pickup and it's still going and looks decent. He says at this point he wants to see just how long it will go.

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            • #7
              Originally posted by Fishindude77 View Post
              Modern vehicles are pretty reliable.
              So many people don't grasp this. Sure, things were made "better" years ago in the sense that they were made out of good quality metal where now they use thinner metal or plastic to save weight and cost but as far as dependability goes, today's cars are way better. I've often noticed that I very rarely see a car broken down on the side of the road anymore. Years ago, I would see them all the time. Heck, I had my share of breakdowns when I was younger driving 1970s and 1980s cars. Today, there's absolutely no reason why you shouldn't be getting a bare minimum of 100K miles out of a vehicle. We usually replace ours in the 140-150K range just because things start wearing out, like the interior components, not the mechanical ones.
              Steve

              * Despite the high cost of living, it remains very popular.
              * Why should I pay for my daughter's education when she already knows everything?
              * There are no shortcuts to anywhere worth going.

              Comment


              • #8
                Alternating overseas assignments throughout my career in the military, has made it very difficult to own a given car for as long as I'd like. The best I've done was a 2017 VW Golf that I bought new, brought with me from Alaska to Idaho, then sold to my FIL after 6 years & ~90k miles (2 assignments). The rest have only been kept for 3-5 years. Once we're more stable & not moving so frequently, it'll be alot easier to keep a car for 7-10+ yrs.

                Our current cars are old beaters from 2010, no idea the kilometers on them but it's generally low because they've mostly just stayed local driving around the rural town were in. But we only paid $5k total for them & only need them to last the next 2 years. At that point, we'll probably be able to sell them for at least $4k.

                Comment


                • #9
                  We currently have a 2014 Jeep Cherokee I bought 2 years ago that now has 170k on it and DD drives an 04 Toyota Highlander with around 230k that was gifted to us from MIL (sole owner) when she started driving 2 years ago. Not planning to replace either until necessary. DD and all her friends LOVE her retro car with a tape and CD player in it

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                  • #10
                    Originally posted by riverwed070707 View Post
                    DD drives an 04 Toyota Highlander with around 230k that was gifted to us from MIL (sole owner) when she started driving 2 years ago. Not planning to replace either until necessary. DD and all her friends LOVE her retro car with a tape and CD player in it
                    My 2018 Camry has a CD player. I just used it yesterday.

                    My biggest concern with the 04, especially for a young newer driver, is the lack of safety features. As annoying as they can sometimes be, blind spot monitors, lane departure warnings, back up camera, and other features do improve safety quite a bit. I can't deny that they've saved me multiple times.
                    Steve

                    * Despite the high cost of living, it remains very popular.
                    * Why should I pay for my daughter's education when she already knows everything?
                    * There are no shortcuts to anywhere worth going.

                    Comment


                    • #11
                      It's hard to admit that a vehicle from 2004 is "retro", however, back in 1995, a car from 1974 would have seemed ancient to me as a teenager. But, I think there was a bigger advancement in overall tech/reliability/safety between 1974 and 1995 than there was between 2004 and 2025, so "old" cars now don't seem that old.

                      I think it's important to learn to drive without totally relying on safety aids like lane departure warnings, blind spot mirrors. But they are good features and help a lot of people to be safer drivers overall.

                      I recently bought a pickup truck and it is my first vehicle to have automatic emergency braking. I'm not sure if that is now a mandated safety feature, but I think it should be. It's a very easy/obvious adaptation of existing, low-cost technology that is proven to react and better apply full braking force. Even if the driver is paying attention or anticipating a collision event, AEB can apply the brakes faster.
                      Last edited by ua_guy; Today, 12:33 PM.
                      History will judge the complicit.

                      Comment


                      • #12
                        Some new features on cars are silly to me. Is there a way to turn off the rear beeping noise when reversing? Another one is the automatic engine shut off at a complete stop. I have to manually turn off the feature everytime I start the car. If there was a way to permanently disable this feature I would.

                        Comment


                        • #13
                          Originally posted by riverwed070707 View Post
                          We currently have a 2014 Jeep Cherokee I bought 2 years ago that now has 170k on it and DD drives an 04 Toyota Highlander with around 230k that was gifted to us from MIL (sole owner) when she started driving 2 years ago. Not planning to replace either until necessary. DD and all her friends LOVE her retro car with a tape and CD player in it
                          My kids have a 2003, but we installed android auto and a backup camera. I can't remember what put that in motion because it was well after my older son was driving. My youngest might have learned to drive with the backup camera. (Maybe it just seemed moot because he was also learning to drive in our newer/loaded vehicles). But we were the type to buy $500 cars in our youth and then put in premium sound systems. & added bluetooth to our older cars when that became available, etc. We were probably just extra appreciative of the safety factor, once we had the safety features in our newer cars.

                          Comment


                          • #14
                            Originally posted by QuarterMillionMan View Post
                            Some new features on cars are silly to me. Is there a way to turn off the rear beeping noise when reversing? Another one is the automatic engine shut off at a complete stop. I have to manually turn off the feature everytime I start the car. If there was a way to permanently disable this feature I would.
                            Autostop eliminator, if they make one for your car. The EPA formerly provided credits to automakers for including start/stop technology with its cars, and part of that was defaulting the feature to "on" every time the car is restarted. That's why GM doesn't offer a user-setting to permanently switch it off, but an aftermarket device can enable that. The devices are usually ~$100 and may or may not be legal in your state.
                            History will judge the complicit.

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